


a hand in the dark

by orphan_account



Series: clair de lune (car boys AU) [1]
Category: Car Boys (Web Series)
Genre: Car Boys AU, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Sharing a Bed, its a tent, kind of, more to come - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-17
Updated: 2017-04-17
Packaged: 2018-10-20 08:05:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10658409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: “You know I can’t sleep without ‘em, loser.”It's late, and neither of them feel like pitching both tents.





	a hand in the dark

**Author's Note:**

> hey this is a car boys AU i'm writing in my spare time, so expect more in the future!

Nick glanced over from the road to Griffin. He was staring at the Nokia again, but the droop of his eyelids betrayed his fatigue. The sunlight filtering through the windshield touched Griffin’s hair and skin, coloring everything a soft orange. Nick smiled fondly at that.

“Hey, Griff, should we pull over and make camp soon?”

Startled out of his staring match with the ancient brick of a phone, Griffin straightened back up in his seat. “Uh, yeah. Yeah, that sounds good, bud.” He offered up his own little grin and put the phone down. Nick looked for a place to pull over.

A mile or so down the road, the truck peeled off the road into a clearing in the trees. Nick got out and jogged around to the other door, pulling it open to help a sleepy Griffin down to the ground. Griffin huffed a little _thank you_ and helped him unload their equipment from the truck bed.

They set up a little campfire to make a quick dinner, talking intermittently, but mainly eating so they could get to sleep sooner. It had been a long day on the road, after a string of misadventures involving some strange metal suit they’d found in the woods, and Nick could tell they were both eager to get a good night’s sleep.

“Can we just pitch the one tent tonight?” Griffin whined. “I’m so _tiiiired_ , Nick.”

Nick laughed, but conceded easily. “Fine. But you have to do all the hard work,” he teased. Griffin crossed his arms and pulled the best puppy dog face he could. They ended up pitching the tent together, since Nick was always such a softie when Griffin threw a fit like this.

As Nick pushed his bedroll open on the floor of the tent, he felt a presence behind him and Griffin crawled in, blankets and pillows clutched in his arms. “Scooch over,” he pushed at Nick with the plush pile.

“Aren’t you going to get your bedroll?” Nick asked, lying down on his side but leaving room for Griffin to share.

“Nah, figured one tent wasn’t big enough for two rolls, y’know?”

Nick thought about the large span of empty space next to his bedroll. “Yeah, no, you’re probably right,” Nick laughed, and Griffin plopped down with his cushion surplus. “But I guess we do have room for all these pillows?”

“You know I can’t sleep without ‘em, loser,” Griffin teases back, peering over his fortress to squint at Nick, who was giggling at him.

“Yeah, yeah,” Nick rolled onto his back and stared up at the top of the tent. He hadn’t really expected to be sharing a tent tonight, much less a bedroll, but he supposed it wasn’t all that bad. Nick let his eyes slip shut as he heard Griffin’s breathing even out from behind the wall of pillows.

***

Nick woke up unexpectedly in the middle of the night, a heavy sweat covering his body and a shout escaping his lips before he could stop it. Almost instantly, hands were gripping his shoulders, holding him as he flailed. “Nick, Nick, bud, talk to me here, what is it?”

He took in a few gulping, shuddering breaths and took in his surroundings. The pillows had been flung towards the entrance of the tent, and Griffin was leaning over him with nothing between them.

“Nick,” he repeated, softer, with less urgency. “Talk to me?”

“Busto,” he wheezed. “It was him, I _saw_ him, he was _here_ , how are _you_ still here, he had you, he _had you and_ \--” He hiccuped, tears burning hard in his eyes as he tried to blink them back. Griffin’s hands tensed, and he rubbed his hands up and down Nick’s arms gently.

“Shh, shh, it’s okay, it was just a dream, Nick,” Griffin was whispering now. Nick forced in another deep breath and his eyes squeezed shut, focusing on the repetitive movements of Griffin’s hands on his shoulders. “It’s okay, he can’t get us here. _I’m_ still here, it’s okay, see? Just a dream.”

Nick allowed himself to look up again, into Griffin’s concerned gaze. He swallowed, and Griffin was watching the bob of his adam’s apple. “Y… yeah, you’re right, I’m sorry.”

Griffin let go of his shoulders and took one of Nick’s hands in his. “Don’t be sorry, buddy, it’s okay. You’re okay.” The corner of his lip quirked up hopefully, and Nick nodded. “Wanna go back to bed, Nick? We still have some time.” Another nod.

As Griffin settled back down, Nick realized the wall of pillows was gone, flung around the tent so that there was hardly anything left between them but space. Nick’s shaking fingers reached through it and grasped Griffin’s hand again, and the fingers beneath his shifted to squeeze gently. There was a gentle tug on his arm, and then Nick was being pulled towards Griffin. His arms instinctively curled towards his chest, while Griffin’s wrapped around him.

As he pushed his face into Griffin’s soft chest, his breathing finally began to calm down. Griffin’s chin rested on top of his head, and he could feel the light racing of Griffin’s heart beneath his cheek.

“Griffin?” His voice came out small and raspy.

“Yeah, Nick?”

“... Thank you,” he stammered. “For doing that. And for this.”

Griffin chuckled, and it rumbled against Nick. Instead of answering, though, Nick felt Griffin press a gentle kiss to his hair.

***

“I guess you really didn’t _need_ those pillows to sleep after all, huh?”

“You’re one to talk. I seem to remember you snuggling pretty hard, bud.”

A giggle. A playful shove to an arm. “Yeah, yeah.”

They got back into the truck and drove on.

**Author's Note:**

> drop me a line at [my tumblr](https://secretsoftboys.tumblr.com/) if u wanna talk about shipboys/this AU and maybe i'll be able to work it into this series! i do have a plan for a few more stories at least


End file.
